Any Other Way
by Olivia Dunham
Summary: Daniel has a nightmare, but one late night visit changes everything....and brings him back to someone he's been missing for a very long time....Daniel/Charlotte


_A/N: This is one of my favorite couples on LOST, so I figured I might as well write a oneshot. Enjoy! Oh, and it's obviously AU._

**XXX**

Daniel Faraday found himself staring down the barrel of a gun, which was about to be fired right into his forehead. He shook with fear, never thinking that he was going to be killed like this. He always thought he was die an old man, around his notebooks filled with calculations. Maybe a brain aneurysm if he was lucky. He didn't know that a simple science and extraction mission would turn into this.

Obviously, he was wrong.

But the small squeeze of his hand brought him back to reality.

John Locke didn't waver, or even glance at Charlotte as she had suddenly come from nowhere, taking Daniel's hand and pulling him slightly behind her. But Locke still had a clear shot. However, Charlotte was just as prepared, a gun of her own poised and prepared to fire at the man. No words were spoken, the tension so thick Daniel could have cut it with a knife.

His gaze flickered all around him. Juliet lay there, bleeding to death after being shot three times in the stomach. Sawyer was a few feet away, dead already from a single shot to the temple. Nearby, Rose and Bernard were dead as well, shot to death, still holding hands. Even Miles' body lay sprawled out near the kitchen of the survivor's camp, the peanuts he had been holding in his hand now scattered across the sand.

Daniel gulped.

He, Charlotte, and Locke were the only ones left now.

He jumped as suddenly both guns went off, one a split second before the other. Locke fell back with a grunt from the bullet that had ripped through his heart. Charlotte let out a soft cry as the other bullet ripped into her chest, sending her back across the sand. Dead instantly, she collapsed, her hand still intertwined with Daniel's, which caused him to be jerked down with the dead weight of her body.

**X**

Daniel jerked awake with a start, drenched in a cold sweat, his sheets a tangled mess around his body. The pained image of Charlotte's face as the bullet barreled through her chest was still fresh in his mind, and he pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes in an attempt to get rid of it.

The nightmares had plagued him ever since he had returned, the sole survivors from the island. And he hadn't even been one of the crash survivors. The helicopter from the second Freighter - this one in control of Sun Kwon and Charles Widmore - had landed a few days later, to find the bodies all sprawled out across the sand, and Daniel leaning over Charlotte's form, sobbing his eyes out.

But he had stopped crying long ago. That was when the nightmares had begun.

And Daniel couldn't take them anymore.

Not caring about the fact it was almost three in the morning, Daniel hailed a cab just outside of his home - he had moved back to Oxford, just be closer to her. He ordered the cab driver the usual route he took three times a week. He had memorized it, so he could walk it if he had to. He had drilled it into his mind, just so even he would remember it with his fading memory - which seemed to be fading more rapidly now that she was dead. It wasn't until after she had died that she had been his constant. Daniel knew he didn't have much time left now.

Only moments later, he was getting out of the cab, tossing a few bills at the cab driver, who took off. He'd have to call another one later. He stared at the wrought iron gates for a moment before he attempted to push it open. Of course, it was locked. Frowning, he jiggled it slightly, and the rusty lock broke in two. Apparently they didn't care about the safety of the tombs or anything if they kept such a rust lock.

He stepped into the cemetary, he felt a feeling creep over him - a feeling of death. It gave him a feeling of being watched, but of course, there was no one there. Unless you counted the dead people in the coffins buried six feet below the ground. Daniel took the small gravel path toward the more private sections of the place, the one with fancier and large tombstones, and beautiful flowers.

He stopped at one, red and blue flowers adorning the tombstone, the ones he had put there the day before. He knelt down in front of the grave, his hands running over the carved letters of Charlotte's name, date of birth, adn date of death. Tears began to trail down his face, sobs wracking his small frame again. He didn't hear the approaching footsteps.

"Daniel Faraday."

He barely glanced up at the mention of his name. However, when teh person repeated his name, he did finally look up, a look of surprise written across his face when he saw Sayid standing over him. Even though is was dark, he could still make out the man's figure only feet away.

And he saw him raise the gun.

Daniel made no move to try and stop him, but simply allowed the man to pull the trigger, the bullet tearing into his chest. He felt blinding pain for a moment, and then, nothing at all.

As Sayid disappeared into the darkness, Daniel's vision began to blur and blacken.

And then, there was a light.

At first it too was blurr, but as his vision got darker, the light got brighter, until it was form in the shape of a young woman. Fiery red hair framed her face, pale blue eyes inviting to him. She wore the same clothes she had died in, a dark spot of blood bloomed across her chest over her heart.

Her hand extended toward him.

Without hesitation, Daniel took it.

She smiled.

"Welcome home Daniel." She whispered, her vouce sounding just the same as he remember it as she helped him to his feet. When he looked back, he saw himself, slumped against her tombstone, a red blotch on his shirt from where he had been shot.

He was dead.

Well, of course he was. Charlotte was standing in front of him. He was with her again, so he knew everything would be all right.

He turned back toward her - she looked even more beautiful than she had when she had been alive. For a fleeting moment, he wondered why she didn't have wings, like angels were supposed to. He shook his head of the thoughts though, no caring if she did or not. Maybe she didn't have them because she was in hell, and he was going to - oh well. At least he was with Charlotte.

"You'll like it alot here Daniel..." Charlotte was saying, her fingers linked with his as they walked between the tombstones. Dan was so focused on her, he didn't noticed that everything around them was fading into a white oblivion. "Everyone's here though - Miles, Juliet, Sawyer, Naomi, all of them. They're here."

"Where is here?" He questioned. She smiled over at him.

"You'll see."

And then, he was standing back on the island.

He began to panic, but realized it wasn't the same island.

The beach was more pristine and covered in white sand, the ocean clearer then he had ever seen. The jungle was full of sounds of birds and other animals, unlike the way it had been so silent back on the real island. This was paradise.

Then he heard laughing, and turned his attention down the beach.

Juliet was running through the surf, trying to avoid being tackled by some man - he had no idea who it was, but he had shaggy brown hair and large grin plastered across his face as he tackled her into teh water. Sitting on the sand itself there were several people scattered about - a young blonde woman and what appeared to be her brother, both laying out in the sun tanning. Miles and Naomi were sitting underneath a palm tree, speaking in low tones.

A pretty blonde girl and a guy with a red guitar were laughing about something one of them had just said. Sawyer was reclining against another tree, empty beer cans spread out around him as he flipped through what Daniel could only assum was a porn magazine. Rose and Bernard laughed loudly as they walked along the beach, hand in hand. Even a young woman with dirty blonde hair was sitting alone - he knew her from somewhere, but couldn't think of her name.

"...and some bitchy woman named Ana-Lucia tried to ban me from this beach and I got pissed at her, so that Libby chick intervened, then Penny and Regina and all them got into it..." Charlotte was rambling, but he had tuned her out for a moment.

It all seemed too perfect. Charlotte squeezed his hand.

"It's lovely isn't it? Everyone who died on, for, or because of the island is here. We've got this entire side to ourselves - the Dharma Intiative people have another side, and then those Hostiles...and I actually met my real parents on here, but they stay with the Dharma people. Your parents were there too..." Charlotte explained softly in his ear as they walked. "Kate nearly made it here because she was hit by a car, but of course, Mr. Fix-It fixed her." Charlotet continued with an eye roll. "I don't know if I would be able to stand her if she ended up here. He certainly wouldn't approve, but He can kiss my ass."

"He?"

"Jacob." Charlotte stated, pressing her finger to her lips. "But we don't ever talk about it."

"Why?"

"We just don't." She replied, facing him. He frowned slightly, but nodded.

"I think I'm going to like it here..." He murmured, for the first time realizing he was able to remember things, he wasn't stuttering, and his thoughts weren't one jumbled mass. He could sort things out perfectly in his mind now.

"Good, because you're going to be here for a while." She smiled, brushing her lips against his softly, squeezing his hand again. He reached up and brush hair out of her face and her lips twisted into a smile.

"I'm fine staying here...with you...forever." He whispered, pulling her into a hug.

"Good." Charlotte murmured. "Because I wouldn't have it any other way."

And neither would Daniel.


End file.
